Terry J. Fadem - The Art of Asking: Ask Better Questions, Get Better Answers

Terry J. Fadem

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Printed in the United States of America

First Printing December 2008

ISBN-10: 0-13-714424-5
ISBN-13: 978-0-13-714424-2

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Fadem, T. J. (Terry Jay), 1948
The art of asking : ask better questions, get better answers T.J Fadem.
> p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-13-714424-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Communication in management. 2. Management.
3. Executive ability. 4. Organizational behavior. I. Title.
HD30.3.F33 2008
658.45dc22
2008007868

But dost thou know what will be tomorrow?

The Grand Inquisitor, in The Grand Inquisitor, by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Garry A. Neil, MD, Corporate Vice President, Johnson & Johnson

Pradip Banerjee, PhD, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Xybion; retired partner, Accenture

George Day, Geoffrey T. Bosi Professor of Marketing, Wharton Business School

Terry Hisey, Vice Chairman and U.S. Life Sciences Leader, Deloitte

Mark Hopkins, entrepreneur and small business owner

The events described in this book are true to the best of the authors ability to recall them. Names and details that might identify people or companies have been changed, wherever possible, to protect the identity of the innocent as well as the guilty.

I want to acknowledge the contributions of my familySusan, Lynne, and Charles Fademfor their patience in listening to my rendition of the stories that appear on the following pages, over and over again. And to Q and Ginger, who both barked furiously at me to walk them whenever I was deep in thought about some important management questions, as if to remind me that good management is often something that just happens.

T.J. (Terry) Fadem is a veteran manager with 25 years of experience ranging from supervising steel workers (J&L Steel) to managing in a major corporation (DuPont) to working with start-up companies. His business venture teams have been profiled in books and periodicals, and he has also been a frequent speaker and consultant on strategic management issues. Fadem is currently the managing director, Corporate Alliances at the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania where he is also a member of the Core Team of the Mack Center for Technological Innovation at the Wharton School. In addition, Fadem is president of the Biomedical Research and Education Foundation.

He sat behind a desk holding a pitchfork, as all upper-level managers do when they are bedeviling their employees. Well, at least thats how many people picture the boss. This guy was actually holding one that resembled an implement of the devila long black handle with a red trident at the end. An appropriate accompaniment for a kid in a Halloween costume, it was out of place with the corporate blue suit of the middle-aged business director. But, as you will see in a moment, this was a manager who was out of step with his business.

Managing business development efforts for a major electronics company with worldwide supply chains is a daunting job for anyone. He had responsibility for overseeing a major growth initiative for the companyone that would likely determine the future of the division. His infrequent visits to the facility that housed the main business unit were as welcome as the arrival of bird flu.

The project he had come to review was beset with problems. The marketing organization criticized research, believing that the product design would not meet customer expectations. Every redesign that satisfied the demands of marketing added costs to the product that threatened to price it out of the market it was targeted to reach, thus making the salespeople very unhappy. And they all argued with manufacturing because no matter what design was settled on, no one in the plant had any confidence the product could be manufactured reliably. The project was woefully behind schedule and so far over budget that the likelihood of recovering development costs had become a major concern for management.

The desk that he was using, as a physical barrier between himself and the team as much as anything else, rested on a concrete platform, about a foot high, in an old factory warehouse. He actually needed the desk because this particular group of employees was known to hurl chairs when they disagreed with each other. Who knows what they might heave at this guy? Although the original purpose of the elevated floor was to keep gunpowder dry, it now functioned as a stage on which the manager attempted to transform himself into an inquisitor. He had come to visit a business team that was producing a seemingly unending stream of problems rather than products.